


You Won't Break

by ErikaWilliams



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, F/M, Gen, M/M, Slow Burn, The End of the World, Threats of Violence, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2018-06-28
Packaged: 2019-05-17 08:42:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14829044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ErikaWilliams/pseuds/ErikaWilliams
Summary: Six hours before The Incident, a stranger showed up at Prompto's door and told him it was time to start running.  Over a year later, they're still on the move, trying to avoid the mutants and other survivors.  A chance encounter with another group will force them to rethink how to survive in a post apocalyptic world.





	1. Chapter 1

This was supposed to have been easy. Go in to the old mall, gather up any supplies that might still be lying around, and get back out of there. Holly was to stay in the RV in case they ran into some trouble and needed to make a quick getaway. They didn't anticipate a lot of trouble though, not with him, Cor and Cindy making the sweep. The place was tightly secured and should have been mostly clear. Sure, previous looters may have gotten in, but it was so far out of the way he doubted anyone would have thought about that place. It was always the things that were supposed to be easy that blew to shit the fastest. Which was how Prompto found himself cornered by two large snarling dogs.

He didn't really want to shoot the dogs. They were probably good dogs, and the young couple they were with didn't seem to have any one else. The problems had started as soon as they got out of the RV. A sizable hold had been made in the door, and peering inside they could see that Mutants had found their way inside. It didn't seem to be so overrun that they should forget their plans altogether, but it was enough that a frontal assault was likely to get them all killed. So Cor had lead them away to discuss their new plan, trying to find another way in that would allow them to take out the Mutants in small groups rather than face the whole hoard at once. It made sense, it seemed like the safer option and the Marshall had never led them astray in strategy before. They split up to search for another way in, and agreed to meet back up on the other side of the building.

Which was how he was by himself when he was corned by the two dogs and the young couple he presumed owned them. Either they hadn't thought the end would last this long and had refused to give up their impractical clothes or for whatever reason they had decided to chose the suit and white dress to die in. He didn't feel like being the one to kill them though, and they were such pretty dogs, one white and one black. Besides, the gunshots would alert the Mutants to their presence, which would ruin their whole stealth thing. So he raised both his hands, making sure to keep his finger away from the trigger.

“We can talk about this.” They didn't look like the murdering type. Far from it. They looked more like rich kids who never had to do anything for themselves and probably should not have survived for this long. And probably would not have had if it hadn't been for those dogs. “I don't want trouble. I just want to get back to my friends.”

“Are those the same friends who stole half our supplies from us?” the young woman demanded. She was the one he was going to have to watch. If she didn't send the dogs after him, she might be capable of killing him with her bare hands.

“No,” he said because his group was small enough that he knew everything they did, and because none of them would steal supplies from other survivors. From dead people and abandoned buildings including churches, but never from other survivors. “But we can help you restock some of yours.” His group wasn't exactly intimidating. They knew that the Marshal was the only one they could successfully use to scare someone off. But he could be damned persuasive when he wanted to be. He just hoped that he could be persuasive enough that all three of them could walk away from this alive.

“We're listening,” the man said, but neither one of them called off the dogs. Well, if this did go south, he hoped the Marshall would be able to forgive him for making a little bit of noise.

“I'm here with a small group.” They didn't need exact numbers, not yet. It might be better for him for the time being if they believed his group outnumbered theirs. “We were going to break into this mall and get some supplies, but there are more Mutants than we thought there would be.” He didn't seem to be having much of an effect on the young woman, but her partner was looking more unsure. “We could really use your help,” he said even though he was certain they could handle everything by themselves even with the added complications. But, he would have said anything to get out of there alive. He kind of felt bad for them. They were clearly unaccustomed to these type of hardships and losing their supplies must have been a terrible blow. “If you help us out, we'll let you keep some of the supplies.” The details of how much and what would have to be worked out after they all survived the next couple of hours. 

“Pryna and Umbra are pretty efficient at taking out the Mutants,” the man said. Which would explain how those two had managed to survive for as long as they had. 

“Why should we trust you?” the woman asked.

They shouldn't. Too many things had gone wrong in this world for anybody to really trust one another anymore. People had leaned real fast how quickly people could turn on each other. They should have just killed him the instant they had seen him. Besides, he wasn't sure if the Marshall would be willing to share any supplies, even if these two proved to be invaluable. He would probably have a few words for Prompto as well, for letting them sneak up on him they way he had. That was the kind of thing that was liable to get him killed, because the next young couple he ran into might not hesitate.

“Because we could have easily killed you by now,” the Marshall said as he stepped around the corner. The white dog shifted its attention away from him and towards the Marshall. “But I think we can all agree that enough people have died already.”

“Where's Cindy?” She shouldn't have been left alone. It was too dangerous, and he didn't like the implication that the Marshall decided to follow him instead.

“Trying to pick a lock on a side door we found,” he said, shooting him a warning glance.

“How many of you are there?” the young woman asked as the white dog growled at the Marshall.

“Just the three of us,” the Marshall said with a meaningful look in his direction. For whatever reason, he didn't want these two to know about Holly. 

“So the three of you thought you were going to clear this mall out by yourselves?” the woman asked them skeptically.

“We thought there would be less Mutants involved,”he said quietly. And he had hoped it would be a lot less complicated, without causalities of two strangers.

“Do we have an arrangement?” the Marshall asked, and the meaning was clear to Prompto. If they didn't agree, Cor would likely get rid of them before they could become a problem.

“Tell us what you need us to do,” the young woman said. She snapped her fingers and the dogs left off, returning to their mistress' side with little tail wags.

The Marshall led them back to where Cindy was still picking the lock on what was probably an emergency exit. At the very least, she didn't seem too disturbed by the fact that they had two more people with them.

“Who're your friends?” she asked while she continued to work on the lock, and he was ashamed to realize he hadn't bothered to ask for their names. Names hadn't seemed like the wisest of ideas when they might end up killing each other.

“I'm Noctis,” the young man said, looking at each of them in turn.

“Prompto,” he said, trying not to look at them too attentively. Even with the supplies, it was unlikely these two were going to make it past a few more months. “This is the Marshall and Cindy,” he said, indicating his two companions.

“This is my fiancee, Lunafreya,” Noctis added once it became apparent that she was not going to be introducing herself. She and the Marshall appeared to be in some sort of silent stand off, and he had no desire to get into the middle of that.

“Well, aren't you two just the cutest couple,” Cindy said from where she was squatting outside the door. She was clearly trying to break the tension, and he could have hugged her for it if he didn't think those dogs were going to kill him if he made any sudden moves. “When's the weddin'?”

“Eight months ago,” Lunafreya said, breaking off her scowling contest with the Marshall. “But the venue was destroyed during the Incident.”

“Not to mention most of the guests are dead,” Noctis added. Oh, right, there was that. They could still have a wedding though if they really wanted to. It wouldn't be legally binding or anything seeing as there wasn't a government any more, but they could still go through with it.

“Any luck with that lock?” he asked Cindy, trying to get them off the topic of the ruined wedding.

“Any second now,” she responded.

“What exactly is the plan?” Lunafreya asked. “Go in there and try not to be killed?”

“We'll sweep the ground floor first,” the Marshall told them. “Once we've taken out the Mutants on the first floor, we'll move onto the second. When everything is dead, we'll start searching for any useful supplies.”

Not much different from their usual plan, but now they had two extra people. Cindy opened the door for them and the Marshall went in first, katana drawn and read to take down any Mutants on the other side of the door. Prompto followed silently behind him, gun placed back in its holster. The two lovebirds and their dogs were right behind him. Cindy was the last to come in, closing the door quietly behind her to keep any of the Mutants from escaping that way. Once they were all in, the Marshall used hand signals to tell each of them which direction they should head in. He allowed the lovebirds to go together, which was probably for the best because they were probably useless on their own and without their dogs. Cindy waved at him and the Marshall with her wrench before heading off on her route. She and the lovebirds would cover the open floor plan. He and the Marshall would take the back halls behind the shops where there were far more places for things to hide. Much more dangerous. He took out his flashlight and slowly pushed open the door on his right. Opening doors was the worst part, never knowing what was going to be waiting for him on the other side.

Today luck was his friend and the immediate area was blessedly empty. He peered around a metal shelving unit piled high with mouse nibbled cardboard boxes. No Mutants, but there was a corpse back there, huddled into the corner, still wearing their work uniform. They must have come back here during The Incident, hoping they might be able to survive. What a way to go, still dressed for work, cell phone in hand trying to talk to someone one last time. His parents had been away at the time of The Incident, and he hadn't bothered trying to reach them until after they had gone out of the city. By then, there was no way to get a hold of them since communication had broken down. Trying to find out if they were still alive or not had not been a priority for him or the Marshall.

He put the corpse behind him and continued on his path. There would be more. There always was. There was simply not enough of the living left to bury all those who had gone before. He could hear the occasional Mutant shuffling around, but nothing in his area. They each had a job to do, and if he strayed from his area, no telling what could happen. He had passed through the backs of four stores before he came across his first Mutant. The glowing green eyes cast an eerie light on the wall in front of him, giving him enough time to duck behind a large box and turn his flashlight off. He tried to stay still, listening to the wet sounds of the creature's footsteps. He couldn't use his gun, not without bringing more down upon him. If it came his way, he could still get the jump on it, but he would rather it not get that far.

He heard the footsteps coming closer, and he held his breath. It was close, but not close enough. The creature snuffed the air behind him. Since when did they hunt by scent? If they could smell them now they were all in trouble. The Mutant knocked his box against his back as it turned around and paced down the hall the other way. This part was easy. He had done this so many times now, he could do it in his sleep. Repetition made it easier to do now when he no longer had to think about it too much. He ducked around the corner of his hiding spot and launched himself onto the creature's back. It tried to rear to dislodge him, but before it could get too high, he wrapped his arms around its neck and twisted. The Mutant went limp beneath him and fell back down to the ground with him still on its back.

He pushed himself off of it, wiping his hands reflexively on the front of his pants before he stepped around its front legs and continued on his route. He came upon another two Mutants, neither one of which gave him any trouble as he quickly took them out. The Marshall would have been proud if he could have seen how efficient he was being. But Cor had his own path to follow and was probably being much more efficient by simply cutting off their heads. In all fairness, that was by far the messier way of doing things, and they never knew when they were going to get a chance to really clean themselves again.

He was nearing the edge of his route when he slipped up again. Twice in once day was sure to get him in trouble with the Marshall. If he survived, since one of the Mutants ambushed him and knocked him to the ground. He scrapped the back of his arm when he hit the ground, and he kicked the creature as hard as he could. It didn't seem to have much effect on it though, as the creature snarled above him. If it bit him, he might survive, but given a few weeks, he might wish he would not have.

A white blur flew into the mutant pining him down, ripping into its throat and sending an arc of green blood through the air. He hastily squirmed out from under the Mutant's spasming body and shimmied away from it. The white dog, green spattered across her muzzle, stared up at him.

“Um, thank you,” he told the dog since she seemed to be expecting something from him. She should have been with her owners, not trailing after him.

Lunafreya came around the corner, stopping short when she saw him, looking at him, the dead Mutant and her dog.

“Did it bite you?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at him. What had she heard and what did she intend to do to him if he had?

“No,” he said quickly to reassure her and the dog went back to her side. She gave it a quick scratch behind the ears. “What are you doing over here?” 

“Pryna took off so I followed her.” Maybe she had just smelled Mutant. Or maybe she had somehow known that he was in danger. Something in that dog's eyes made him think it was the latter.

“We should get back to the others,” Lunafreya said as she turned back the way she had come. He followed her and the dog, wondering if he would be able to keep that slip up a secret from the Marshall. 

The second floor was a bit easier to deal with. For whatever reason, the Mutants didn't come up in quite as large numbers. They cleared them out in not time at all, and split up to gather supplies. He headed to the food court to see if there was anything left that they could use. Places like that tended to have foods with lots of preservatives, so he might be able to find something. He went searching through their large rooms, taking the large cans that weren't damaged and shoving them into a duffel bag. Most of it wasn't very good, but it would keep them alive for another day. He was walking by a front counter when he spotted an unopened chocolate bar laying out in the open. It had been so long since he had any chocolate, and he probably might never get another chance again. Not like there were chocolate factories still in operation. Lost of things from his past were gone forever. He grabbed the candy bar, unwrapped it, and took a huge bite out of the end. A little piece of chocolate heaven. He tossed the wrapper in the garbage can, finishing off the rest of the bar as he headed back to the rendezvous point.

Everyone but Cindy had returned already, as she had gone in search of anything they might be able to use to fix the RV in the future. The lovebirds had found some new clothes and had already switched into them. The Marshall was going through what everyone had brought back and was dividing it into two piles. One was clearly larger than the other. They had more people. It only made sense, even if they had plenty of supplies already and these two needed all the help they could get. Lunafreya was kneeling on the ground, scratching the black dog behind the ears. Prompto handed his bag over to the Marshall.

“Anything good?” he asked, keeping a close eye on the other two.

“More of the usual,” the Marshal said as he looked disdainfully at the contents of Prompto's duffel bag. It would be nice to have fresh food again, but it was not possible for them right now. “As soon as Cindy gets back, we'll ditch these two and get back on the road.”

It was a shame. In some other world, maybe they all could be friends. He walked over to the other two and scratched the white dog behind the ears.

“Do you think there's enough here to make up for what you lost?” he asked, sitting down on the edge of the dried up fountain next to Noctis. 

“More than enough,” Noctis said, eying up the smaller pile of supplies. So they had not been surviving very well before. Perhaps the extra supplies they had earned together could keep them alive for another month or so. The Marshall refilled their duffel bags with the supplies he had chosen to keep for them. He saw Cindy return, staying out of sight of the lovebirds and give them the signal that it was time to go.

“You should take us with you,” Lunafreya said, rising to her feet. “It would be in everyone's best interests if were to stay together.”

“Sorry, but that's not going to happen,” he said, jumping to his feet and pulling out his gun. He hoped he wouldn't need it. Behind him Cor was scooping up their bags. “You're just two people and two dogs. What could you possibly offer us?” He started walking backwards, keeping his eye on them while Cindy and the Marshall carried the supplies. 

“If you leave us here now you condemn us to death,” Lunafreya told him with eyes of steal.

“Sorry about that. You two really seem like a lovely couple. Good luck with your wedding!” he called before dashing out the front door after the other two. He hopped in the RV, pulling the door shut behind him and Holly took off before he even had time to find a seat. They were on the open road again soon enough. Cindy sat in the passenger seat, telling Holly every detail of their supply run. The Marshall went about the task of stowing their new supplies. He sat down on the small couch, gun still in his hands dropped between his legs as he stared down at it. He hadn't been forced to use it on people yet, but the way things were headed, it might not be long now.

“They really were such a sweet couple,” Cindy was telling Holly. “I don't see why we couldn't make room for 'em.”

“We can't take in every stray,” the Marshall said as he sat down next to Prompto. Lunafreya had been right though. They had more or less signed their death warrant when they had left them there.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three separate groups start making their way towards the mountains where two hope to find safety and the other hopes to stop a group of murderers.

The wall stretched to the left and right for as far as the eye could see. It had never been completed, but there were places where it stretched for miles. It had been started after the Incident, the government’s ill-fated efforts to keep out the Mutants. The wall had not been build fast enough or the army couldn’t keep them away long enough or some combination of the two. The Mutants got in anyway. Besides, there was something else out there, something far more dangerous than the Mutants. Walls didn’t seem to stop them. Whatever they were, they came in with something like a chill fog. No one knew what they looked like. Anyone who saw them didn’t live to tell the story.

There was nothing left in the city, nothing worth going back to. The Mutants had taken over, no one could survive in there any more. The remaining section of wall didn’t keep things in or out. Now it was just a memorial wall, covered in names and pictures of those who had been lost. The entire section he was standing in front of was covered from the ground to the top about two feet about his head.

Gladio placed his hand next to the last picture he had of Iris. They had tried to stay in the city for a while, mistakenly thinking that there would be safety in numbers. They had believed in their father’s abilities to protect them. They had held out for as long as they could, but eventually Clarus had sent them away for their protection. They had thought they would be going back soon enough, so they hadn’t taken much. Just a few essentials to stay alive until their father eradicated the threat and called them home. Now he wished he would have brought more.

The picture of Iris he had tacked to the wall, nestled in between a mother with her son and an elderly gentleman, was her last school picture from before the Incident. She had complained about it endlessly, said she hadn’t been ready when the guy took the picture, but he had put it in his wallet all the same. Now he was leaving it behind on the memorial wall, the only thing left he had of hers.

“Gladio,” Monica said from beside him, and he ignored her. He wasn’t ready. Not yet.

They shouldn’t have come back. They thought they would be able to sneak back into the city and find something useful. Or at least get some sense of what had happened to their parents. He thought it might be too dangerous, but Iris had insisted that she should come along. Then the fog had rolled in and they had been separated and now Iris was gone forever. He didn’t even get the chance to say a proper goodbye.

“Gladio?” Monica said again, a bit more insistently, and he pulled his hand away from the wall. It wouldn’t do to linger here. “Gladio, we can’t stay here.”

He turned away from the wall to look at the remainder of their group. Monica and Dustin, and Talcott who was clinging to Monica’s hand. Out of all those who their father had sent with them to keep him and Iris alive, they were the only ones who had survived. If they wanted to stay alive, they had to put as much distance between themselves and the city as possible. Their brief excursion inside had shown him that there was nothing left in there for any one.

Skeletons lined the streets, dust blew over everything, Mutants stalked around every corner and the fog never seemed to let up. They had been stupid to try to go in there. No one could have survived. No one should have survived. First he had to contend with the knowledge that his parents had most likely died, and now he had to admit that Iris was lost to him as well.

“Gladio,” Monica said quietly, stepping closer to him. “She wouldn’t want us to stay here.” No, she wouldn’t. She wouldn’t want them to stay here and mourn for what couldn’t be brought back. Talcott was still alive, and if they managed to find some place safe, he might actually live to reach adulthood. But that wasn’t going to happen while they stood around there.

“Right,” he said, grabbing his sword from where it was leaning against the memorial wall. They had to keep moving forward, get away from the city. It was what Iris would have wanted for all of them. Iris, who he was supposed to have protected. His father had made him promise that he wouldn’t let anything happen to her, and in the end, she ended up saving him. “Let’s get as much distance between us and the city as we can.”

“I’ll drive,” Dustin offered as they walked away from the memorial wall, back towards the car. It wasn’t the one they had left the city with, but this one got better gas mileage. And with how difficult it was getting to find gas, they needed all the help they could get in that department. He took the front seat, mindful of the sword, while Monica huddled with Talcott in the back. The boy needed all the comfort he could get, now that he no longer had Iris back there with him. There was something else that he could have done, but he just didn’t know what that was.

“Which way should we go?” Dustin asked him once they were all settled. They had come from the north, and it didn’t feel like they had anything else going for them up here. Their family had a cabin up in the mountains. If the Mutants hadn’t gotten that far, they might be able to hole up there for a while. It would be safe, or at least as safe was anything was at the moment.

“Head west, towards the mountains,” he instructed. Dustin would know where he was going. He looked towards the back seat out of habit, but only saw Talcott curled up against Monica’s side. He thought about reminding him of the importance of seat belts, but decided it didn’t matter. They were all more likely to die from something else than a car accident anyway.

“It’ll be just like going on vacation,” Monica told Talcott. Some vacation. He didn’t know how secure the cabin actually was going to be. It might just be one more stop to restock their supplies before they continued on their way.

~*~*~

Aranea pulled the spear free that had been pinning the man to the tree, and his body fell to the ground. “Poor son of a bitch,” she said as she stared intently at the head of the weapon. “The spear is still in good shape, though.” She wiped the head clean on the dead man’s clothes.

Ignis didn’t particularly care about how many weapons she decided to collect as he was more intent on surveying the abandoned camp site. Mutants had not caused this damage. Mutants did not pin bodies to trees as a warning for the next group of people who happened to come up this way. There were only two bodies, but four tents had been set up around the dead fire pit. Three were still standing. One had been trampled during whatever had happened here. Biggs and Wedge were searching through the wreckage, looking for any valuable supplies that may have been overlooked.

This wasn’t the first time they had come across the leavings of these monsters. They had been tracking them for weeks now. He was so sure that this time they were finally going to confront them. They didn’t know how many there were. They weren’t particularly concerned with it. Those people they followed left behind death and destruction unprecedented by even the Incident. They swooped in, perhaps at night, perhaps first by making overtures of friendship, and took their victims supplies and slaughtered them all. Or so they had thought. This was the first time they had found evidence that they had made off with people as well.

“I’d say we’re about three days late to the party,” Ravus said, kicking through the cold ashes of the fire. Judging by the state of the bodies and the current atmospheric conditions, he would say it was closer to two days. They were getting closer. Soon enough, they would find them and they would put an end to their reign of terror.

“Why do you suppose they never send us an invitation to the party?” Aranea asked as she stalked back over to his side, bringing the spear with her. So she did intend on keeping it. He supposed if it made her happy, there was no reason to tell her they should leave it behind. It was one more weapon they had that their enemy did not. He supposed it was rather kind of them to give it to them.

“Maybe because they know you would kick their asses boss,” Biggs said to Aranea. Or maybe it was Wedge. He could never really remember.

Finding the three of them had been rather fortuitous. Before he had just been wandering along, trying to avoid contact with other people. There was no point in making new friends since they were all likely to die soon. But that didn’t mean someone should just go around killing other people. They were dying fast enough; humans did not need to move things along. The first time he had found the murdered man, he knew he had to do something about it.

Along the way he had found those three miscreants. While they didn’t seem too keen on killing the murderers because they wanted to make things right in the world, the promise of the large stash of supplies that group must have amassed by now was more than enough to get them to come along for the hunt. And they had turned out to be quite adept at surviving. Plus having the three of them around alleviated some of the boredom and had stopped him from talking to himself.

“Or maybe people just don’t send invitations any more,” Ravus said sullenly from where he was circling around the fire pit.

Ravus was an entirely different story. While he had come to appreciate Aranea’s company and even that of her companions, he could do without Ravus. Granted, he was useful in a fight, but the rest of the time he was hoping he would just decide to go his own way. He wasn’t really part of their group, but he went along with them any way. Said he was looking for his sister and that he would continue to travel with them until he found her. Ignis just hoped that they would not find her dead body, although the sooner they found her, the better off he felt they would all be.

“So, what do we do now?” Aranea asked him, placing one hand on her hips, the other curled around the shaft of her new spear.

“We continue to hunt them.” They didn’t exactly have anything better to do. And if they didn’t stop them now, they might just come after their group one evening. “Make sure that spear of yours stays sharp.” If only they had some way of knowing which way they had gone when they left. For as much of a mess as they left behind, they were much more careful when they were leaving.

“They went into the mountains,” Ravus announced from the other side of the camp site. Biggs and Wedge had found some usable supplies and were stuffing them into bags.

“What makes you so sure about that?” Ignis asked him. He wasn’t sure if he trusted the man, especially when he was suggesting which way they should go.

“It’s where I would go,” Ravus said pragmatically. “Lots of places to hide. Easy to ambush the unwary.” Not for the first time Ignis wondered if perhaps Ravus worked for the group they were hunting. Perhaps this was how they operated, send an insurgent into a small group to lead them some where they would be ripe for slaughter.

“Sounds like a good time,” Aranea said from beside him.

“Then let’s head towards the mountains.”

Ravus wasn’t smart enough to lead them all into a trap anyway.

~*~*~

The benefit of parking the RV in an open field over night meant he could see anything that might try to sneak up on it. The downside to it, he thought as he clambered to the roof, was that it meant anything would be able to see him as well. He hated when he and the Marshall got the first watch. It meant it was still light out when he climbed to the top of the RV, and he couldn’t see if anything was sneaking up on him. He was vulnerable with his back to the world. Mutants could sneak up on him or worse. He would be dead before he could sound the alarm. He heaved a sigh of relief as he hauled his trailing foot onto the roof.

At least it was mostly safe up there, and he took a quick look around. Nothing as far as he could see, although he double checked each direction just to be sure.

“Mind giving me a hand?” the Marshall asked from where he was still on the ground. Prompto hurried over to the edge of the RV and pulled up the folding chairs the Marshall handed up to him. They weren’t the most comfortable, but they still beat sitting on the roof of the RV. Once the moon rose the roof could get really cold on the ass. He set the chairs up while the Marshall pulled himself up. Prompto sat down in one chair, and looked towards the horizon. Two deer were treading through the field, looking for some good eats in the grass. It had been so long since they had fresh meat, but gun shots would bring other things to their location. He watched the deer wander away with a pang of regret.

The Marshall sat down in the other chair and tossed him a can. “I brought you something to drink.”

He looked at the can in his hand and tried to pass it back to the Marshall. “I shouldn’t drink.”

“Who says?” the Marshall pointed out. He had a point. His parents were gone. There was nothing stopping him from doing a lot of things now. He popped the tab and took a careful sip.

“Holly and Cindy getting some rest?” he asked, keeping his eyes trained on the horizon. A threat could come at them from anywhere. And he knew from experience that the Marshall did not like to talk about his past. Not to mention there was no sense in talking about a future that wouldn’t come to pass.

“I suppose that’s part of their plan,” the Marshall said before taking a sip of his own beer.

“They know they’re going to be one second watch,” Prompto said, looking briefly over at the Marshall. “Why wouldn’t they go to bed?”

“Don’t worry about it,” the Marshall informed him. “Keep an eye out for any Mutants or fog.”

“Right,” he said, turning his attention back to the horizon. The girls were counting on him to keep them safe. They didn’t get a lot of trouble at night, but sometimes things got a little too close. “Maybe we should keep an eye out for a silencer for my gun,” he suggested. He liked being proactive, trying to find another way to survive. Keeping the girls safe. Make sure they made it to another day. Maybe then he could have gotten one of those deer.

“That might have to wait a while,” the Marshall told him and that caught his attention.

“Do you have a plan?” They could use a plan. Driving around aimlessly did not seem to be doing anything for them.

“An old friend of mine has a cabin in the mountains not far from here. Couple days drive at most.”

“Do you think your friend would mind?” They couldn’t just move in there. Someone else like the rightful owner might have had the same idea.

“I doubt he’s still alive to care,” the Marshall said before finishing off his beer. “But his kids might be. It’s been a while since I’ve seen them, but we could use all the help we can get.”

“You think things are going to get worse than they are now?”

“I don’t see how they can get any better.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After encountering a roadblock on their way to the mountains, Prompto and Cindy encounter a new group.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Promptio Week 2018, Day 4 - Flowers.

Prompto was on his back on the couch in the RV, one hand across his stomach, the other tapping out the beat to his music on the window. Holly was driving, Cindy was in the passenger seat next to her, keeping her company. The Marshall was sitting across from him, probably lost in thought or something. He wasn’t sure what the Marshall did in his downtime, and they go so little of it that he wasn’t about to waste his by worrying about what the Marshall was up to. He had found a portable CD player on their last run and had been excited to find that the batteries still worked. The CD inside was unlabeled and was scratched so badly that it only played the one song. Some techno rock thing that he never would have listened to before. But, music was music, and it granted him a much needed release from the horrors of everyday life. He would listen to that song until the batteries died and then he would probably try to rig something with the RV to revive them.

 

He kept his eyes closed when he had the headphones on, to further complete his escape fantasy. He could let everything else drift away and pretend he was in the backseat of the car, coming home from a family vacation. Any minute now they would pull into the driveway of the split level house he had grown up in. His dad would open the back door and carry him inside the house, careful not to wake him. His mom would tuck him in, kissing his forehead and humming a lullaby to him. But that had been a long time ago, before his parents had buried themselves in their work.

 

He needed a new escape fantasy, one that ultimately would not bring him down. Maybe he would think about meeting someone in this post apocalyptic world that he could spend the rest of his short days with. Someone strong, who didn’t take any shit. Someone to give him a reason to look forward to tomorrow. He thought maybe Cindy could be that person, but when he had brought the subject up with her, she had politely turned him down. Something about him not being her type.

 

The RV came to a sudden halt, knocking the headphones off his head and canceling his day dream.

 

“We have a problem up here,” Holly called back to them.

 

The Marshall tapped his leg to get his attention on his way out of the RV. Prompto made sure the CD player was fully powered off before he put it down carefully on the couch. Cindy bounded out the door in front of him, so he figured it couldn’t be anything too dangerous.

 

It didn’t take him long to figure out what the hold up away about. A series of large trees had fallen across the road. The Marshall walked towards the edge of the road to peer at the roots.

 

“We’re not getting around that,” the Marshall declared as he walked back over to him and Cindy. They didn’t have a map. They were going on the Marshall’s memory and pure instinct, trying to reach a haven that might not even exist. He figured their best bet was to change course and try to find somewhere else to hole up for a while.

 

“What do we do now?” Cindy asked, looking between him and the Marshall. It wasn’t his decision to make. He wouldn’t know what to look for in a safe place.

 

“There’s higher ground north of here,” the Marshall said. “The two of you should head there and see if you can see another route. “I’ll stay here with Holly and guard the RV.”

 

“Right,” Cindy said before heading off into the forest. Prompto followed her, not because he thought it would make a difference, but because he didn’t like the idea of her wandering around in the woods by herself. It seemed unlikely they would make it back before nightfall. He was not looking forward to roughing it in unfamiliar territory. Especially not with just the two of them.

 

Cindy was getting further away from him while he was too busy worrying about what was going to happen when the sun went down. He jogged briefly to catch up with her, his boots crunching over the dead leaves on the ground. The woods were blissfully quiet. Perhaps too quiet. There was still wildlife left in the world, so he could have been hearing birds or something. His skin crawled and he didn’t like the looks of the ridge to the right of them. Something could be hiding on the other side of the rise. A mutant, or something worse. Cindy didn’t seem to care, as she approached the edge where it merged back to the ground with the same ease she approached everything.

 

He wasn’t going to take any chances with her life. He pulled his gun out of the holster and took the safety off. He would rather not have to use it than to not be prepared. They reached the edge of the rise and came face to face with a group of strangers. He raised his gun at the same time a huge sword appeared in front of his face. He did a quick appraisal of what they were up against. The big guy in front who was easily a foot taller than him with a ridiculously large sword. A woman behind him with a crossbow pointed in their direction. Another older man who didn’t appear to be armed. So he was the only one with a gun. He actually kind of liked those odds.

 

“That’s a big sword you have there,” he said, keeping his gun trained on the big guy with the sword. If the other guy moved first, he could be in some serious trouble. “Are you compensating for something?”

 

“Why don’t you come closer and find out?” the man replied to him. He wasn’t that dumb. He could hit the guy with a bullet, but he was not going to get in range of that sword.

 

“Prompto, they have a kid with them,” Cindy said quietly from behind him.

 

He took a second look at the group behind the sword. There was a boy next to the other man. His hands shook and he lowered the gun a fraction of an inch. No way. He couldn’t kill a kid. He didn’t think he could kill those other people in front of a kid either. What would the Marshall do?

 

The woman fired her crossbow while he hesitated, and the bolt whizzed by his head. He doubted her aim was that bad, so he spun around to see what was behind him. Not too far, he could see a deer that was still twitching on the ground.

 

“I don’t think any of us have the heart to kill each other,” the woman said, “so maybe we should consider sharing a meal instead.”

 

“We have to keep moving,” the big guy said, but he had lowered his sword.

 

“Maybe our new friends know a road that will take us west,” she said as she made her way past them towards the deer. He thought calling them friends already might be a bit presumptuous. After all, they all had the same goal, and supplies were limited. Unless these people could carry their weight, the Marshall wouldn’t want them around. Then again, this woman could provide them with fresh meat.

 

“The road we were on was blocked too,” Cindy offered. “We were headed up that rise to see if we could find another path.”

 

“Sounds like what we were doing,” the woman said as she pulled her bolt out of the deer. They could have fresh meat if they stayed with this group. Them again, he had grown accustomed to the comforts of the RV.

 

“There’s no reason we all have to go,” Cindy said. “We have games back at our vehicle that the kid can play with. I can take you there if someone from your group wants to climb the ridge.”

 

“I’ll stay with the shrimp,” the big guy said, and he bristled at the comment. Just because the guy was unnaturally tall did not give him the right to be insulting other people for their height.

 

“The name’s Prompto,” he settled on, because they were supposed to try to make friends, not start fights with people twice his size.

 

“Right,” the woman said with a nod. The kid had moved over to her side, and the other man picked up the deer carcass and slung it over his shoulders. He guessed he didn’t really need a weapon. “We’ll have dinner waiting for you when you two get back.”

 

“Let’s go, shrimp,” the big guy called with a wave over his shoulder as he started to walk away.

 

“It’s Prompto!” he called as he scrambled after him. What the hell had he gotten himself into this time? Maybe this was a game they played. Use the kid to lower a group’s defenses. Then divide and conquer. Cindy wasn’t helpless, but she was outnumbered until they got back to the RV.

 

He walked beside the big guy, looking up at him occasionally when he thought he could get away with it. If the silence with Cindy had been comfortable, this was just plain awkward.

 

“You have a name there, Big Guy?” he asked. If they were going to be joining forces, he would like to have something to call him. He just glanced down at him without a word. “Right, you’re the strong, silent type. I get it.”

 

Maybe it was the promise of getting fresh meat every once in a while, but he really wanted these people to join with them. The Marshall would have to agree that they were clearly competent and could be an asset to them. He wasn’t sure what the kid would be able to contribute, but the other three should more than make up for it.

 

The guy beside him had clearly seen some serious shit. His eyes had that hollow gleam in them, and he had a nasty looking scar from his forehead over his left eye almost all the way down to his jaw. Not only was the man a fighter, he was clearly a survivor. That was the kind of person he wanted on his team.

 

“So are you from around here, Big Guy?” he asked, trying to make casual conversation. For a moment, he thought he was only going to get stony silence.

 

“No.” Well, one word answers were better than nothing.

 

“I was in college before the Incident,” he offered up as they walked along. It wasn’t anything too personal. Maybe he could get the big guy to open up to him a little. If he didn’t open up, he probably wouldn’t want to stay with them. How much weight did he have with the rest of his group? “Second year.” The big guy didn’t offer anything in return. Nothing about what he had been doing with his life, how old he was, whether or not he had ever gone to college. The guy was a mystery wrapped in a giant, rugged package.

 

They reached the mouth of a hiking trail at the bottom of the rise. It looked mostly clear from where they were standing.

 

“That looks steep,” he said as they stopped at the bottom, catching their breath. At least he was.

 

“That’s why you never skip leg day,” the big guy told him gruffly.

 

“He speaks!” he said, circling around him to stare up at him. “And I think that was a joke!”

 

“No, just good advice. You have scrawny little legs.”

 

“I-? What-?” He didn’t think his legs were worthy of such notice. He had never really thought about it. They were legs. They got him from place to place. That’s all he needed them for.

 

“Come on. We don’t want to keep the others waiting,” the big guy said before he started up the trail. He didn’t have much of a choice but to follow him. He needed to see the road with his own eyes, since he couldn’t trust a stranger to guide them towards the correct path. He followed him up the trail silently, only partially because he was finding the trail more steep than he imagined, but mostly because he wasn’t getting much of a response to his attempts at conversation. He couldn’t complain about the view though.

 

The further up the rise they got, the more tangled the path got. In some places, he couldn’t even tell if the man in front of him was following a trail because all he saw was calf-high grass. They always came back to a place that he recognized as a trail again. So he would just have to trust that this guy knew what he was doing.

 

A few large branches crossed the path, and the big guy pushed them aside and stepped off the trail, holding them back so he could get through.

 

“Um, thanks?” he said as he stepped by him. That put him in the lead now, and he wasn’t sure he would be able to follow the path as well as the other guy could. The path opened up to an overlook with cracked wooden railings that had not been tended to in a very long time. He didn’t think he would be able to touch it without getting splinters, but he bounded over to it, looking out into the valley.

 

“Look at that view!” he said as the big guy came to stand next to him. The sun was just starting to set, casting an orange glow over the remaining leaves on the trees. “I wish I still had my camera,” he said, figuring if he wanted the big guy to open up, he could set an example. “Somebody should be documenting this. About how we survived.”

 

“Why?” the big guy asked him with a raised eyebrow.

 

“For future generations. So they can see everything we endured and how we survived.” The big guy scoffed and turned to start back up the trail. “Wait, you don’t think this is it, do you?” he asked as he hurried after him. “You have a kid with you.” It could have been his for all the more he knew about this guy.

 

“He’s my old butler’s grandson.”

 

“Okay, now I have more questions.” He didn’t think he was going to get answers to any of them. As they continued up the trail, he occupied his mind with everything he knew about this guy. He had a butler in his past life, so clearly he had come from money. But he carried around that sword like it was second nature to him, and he clearly knew how to handle himself. He didn’t think he was going to be able to figure it out, and if he couldn’t convince him to stay, there didn’t seem to be mush of a point. He stayed quiet on the rest of the climb, focusing his energy on climbing and what he could do to get the guy to stay.

 

His legs were like jelly by the time they made it to the top, and there was still enough light that they should be able to find a new path. He bent over, catching his breath and trying to massage life back into his quivering thighs. Most of the running he did was on flat surfaces. His legs had not been prepared for this climb.

 

The big guy was staring down at a small batch of delicate pink flowers.

 

“Didn’t take you for the flower type,” he said as he straightened up.

 

“They were my sister’s favorite,” he said gruffly before making his way to the edge of the rise. Prompto glanced at the flowers before joining him. “That’s where we left our car,” the big guy said, pointing to what Prompto assumed was a road in the distance.

 

“That’s where we encountered our road block,” he said, pointing to where he could just make out the RV. He hoped they were having a good time of it back at the RV. Maybe the Marshall and Cindy and Holly were having a better time of making friends than he was. He scanned the land in front of him, trying to see if he could make sense of any of it. He couldn’t tell where any of the roads were. It was all just tress as far as he could tell.

 

“There,” the big guy said, pointing to something he couldn’t see. “That road looks like it heads west. That’s where we should go.”

 

He said ‘we’. Sure, maybe he was just talking about his own group, but it was the best chance he was going to get. He walked over to the flowers and knelt down on the dirt. He picked ones that were in various stages of development, hoping Cindy would be able to help him. He could collect some of the seeds as well, once they were safely back in the RV.

 

“What are you doing?” the big guy asked him, but he didn’t seem too inclined to help.

 

“I thought you might appreciate seeing them around the RV,” he said. He made sure to take them in a pattern that would make it look like nothing had been disturbed.

 

“Why would I care if you have flowers inside your RV?”

 

He pushed himself to his feet, flowers in hand. This might be crazy. He didn’t know where this guy was going or where he had come from. He could have been an escaped convict. They might actually be holding the kid hostage. He didn’t know how old he was. He didn’t even know his name. But somehow he got the feeling that they would both have a better chance of survival if they stuck together. He turned around slowly, lifting his eyes to look up at him.

 

“Because I think you should come with us.”

 


End file.
